The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c8.131

c8.131

In the Ganges valley also Hindu aggression was sought to be checked. The inclusion, among Iltutmish's conquests, not only of Budaun where he held his last post before accession to the throne, but also of Kanouj and Benares, points to their having been lost to the Hindus in the meantime³. At Budaun the establishment of the Gahdvala family has been mentioned earlier; survival, and a possible recovery of the Rashtrakuta line represented by Lakhanapala, also could not have been altogether an improbability⁴. In eastern Rohilkhand, the Katehriya Rajputs retained their stronghold at Ahicchatra (modern Aolna), not far from Budaun; the inclusion of Katehar in the list of Iltutmish's conquests is a clear indication of the range of his operations. It also seems probable that the subjugation of Bahraich and the districts north of the Gogra river, was also effected about this time. In Awadh and the Doab also Muslim rule had to be re-established by force. On his appointment to Awadh prince Nasiruddin Mahmud is said to have waged continuous ‘holy wars’ against the refractory Hindu tribes and to have overthrown a chief named Bartu (or Prithu) “beneath whose sword about a hundred and twenty thousand Mussalmans had attained martyrdom”¹. Operations against the local chiefs in the Doab are alluded to in a passage in the *Tabaqat* in which ‘the son of the Rai’ is said to have been captured by Malik Tamur Khan in course of an expedition to Chandwar². It is doubtful if any appreciable advance could be made into north Bihar. Tirhut is, however, included in Iltutmish’s acquisitions, but this should mean nothing more tangible than a possibly successful raid³.